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U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

reuters.com

91–100 of 226 posts

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#91
post #12

What it really comes down to is determining if we are doing the Cold War thing or not. To many of us, the cold war is over, and the other 300 years of rolling the nation state concept across the world is over too. As it is very easy to operate in a borderless global economy - at least between major economic unions - if you are privileged enough. If you absolutely need people to pick a side again, just say so. Otherwi…

The problem is, if you think you’re not in a Cold War while the other guy thinks you are. Before you realize it, it’s already too late.

Hmmm this sounds like an iterative prisoner's dilemma situation. Time to implement Generous Tit for Tat.

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#92
post #36

> Barr suggested that Apple iPhones “wouldn’t be sold (in China) if they were impervious to penetration by Chinese authorities.” He suggested American tech companies were imposing a “double standard.”

Meanwhile Barr is insisting that all encryption tools, in order to be legal in the US, need to give copies of the keys to the government... you know to keep us safe from terrorists. And tax cheats. And pirated movie bootleggers.

I’m not sure how that invalidates the point. If companies like Apple are going to declare themselves defenders of privacy in America, and then turn around and give China what it wants in order for access to their markets, then they have indeed become pawns.

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#93

What's the concern that's being identified in all these stories? It would be good to have an enumeration of clear concerns. Is it that: 1) the companies are letting Americans' hardware be controlled / data escape and be monitored in China, or 2) that people in China subject to their laws (un-American as those laws may be) are being monitored (and worse)? Because if it's the first topic, how do we not manage to buy/re…

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Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#94

Barr didn't seem too concerned about foreign influence when it came to a national security advisor lying to the government about cash payments from Turkey and illegal coordination with Russia.

Do you think he is wrong about the CCP?

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#95

I see the East Coast power centers having waning influence on the Pacific Rim states of the West Coast, who are uniquely positioned to work with Asian countries

I see that the global center of capital is continuing its millenia long westward migration. Past the US west coast, and into China. From Prometheus Rising: > Brooks Adams also noted that centralized capital (the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few inter-related families) seems to have been moving steadily West throughout recorded history. The first major accumulations are to be found in Sumer; the center of…

> Californication has come and gone

Californication is an old idea that has come and gone. I'm talking about the West Coast. The 2 richest men in the world live in Seattle. The West Coast is a very powerful place, otherwise AG Barr would not somewhat impotently be complaining about it.

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#96

I detest Trump (voted for Clinton) and most, if not all, senior members of his administration, including Barr. But that doesn't prevent me from ultimately being OK with some of their statements/actions, even if they're all for the wrong reasons. The regime in China represents evil on a scale that is probably unprecedented in Earth's history, and anything that can stop or slow its world domination should be welcomed o…

I feel the same as you. I am also an immigrant that came to the USA escaping a country where people were suffering after decades of oppression and a string of socialist dictatorships. Seeing the actions of the CCP being normalized and defended in the USA concerns me a lot.

I didn't immigrate to the US, my parents did. From Syria. I lived there for a few years, and it's absolutely infuriating how some Americans equate their government with Assad, CCP, Khamenei, Putin, Kim, Duterte, etc.

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#97
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile Barr is insisting that all encryption tools, in order to be legal in the US, need to give copies of the keys to the government... you know to keep us safe from terrorists. And tax cheats. And pirated movie bootleggers.

Bingo. It's worthwhile to ask to what degree U.S. corporations should be doing business in Chinese markets, but it's also worthwhile keeping in mind that no U.S. administration is a purely disinterested party when they're raising these criticisms -- and this administration in particular, and this U.S. attorney general in particular, has a pretty strong track record of deliberately stoking partisan flames and finding…

At least he complained that there was a double-standard where the CCP gets the data and the US doesn't.

We know he wants the US to get the data, too. We know that neither should.

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#98
post #2

Original title: "Attorney General Barr accuses Hollywood, Big Tech of collaborating with China"

He's not wrong. But it also doesn't make him any less of an asshole -- Barr is a shady character.

This.

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steering this back to Google's decision to pull out of China after exploits - the Tech Industry has expressed views that have cost it significant amounts of revenue. We've fought back unlike other industries.

True, the individuals that stopped dragonfly are commendable. However, that was not all of Google.

The parent is referring to when Google pulled out of China in 2010, after having actually operated a google.cn for several years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Aurora

Re: U.S. attorney general: Hollywood, tech companies “pawns of Chinese influence”

#100
post #93

What's the concern that's being identified in all these stories? It would be good to have an enumeration of clear concerns. Is it that: 1) the companies are letting Americans' hardware be controlled / data escape and be monitored in China, or 2) that people in China subject to their laws (un-American as those laws may be) are being monitored (and worse)? Because if it's the first topic, how do we not manage to buy/re…

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So, if I were being sarcastic/cynical -- I would say, "so we object to China trying to become a global superpower by investing in the arts, media, technology, and a slew of other things that cause economic gains for their people?" How dare they stoop to such tactics.

I would actually feel more in earnest about the above joke if it didn't come with (or was trying to mask) the torture, economic espionage, etc.

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